A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next FIVE chapters are up on my Patreon for early access!

Bobby has had a long day. But at least he's finally going to get some rest… right?

-x-X-x-

What a fucking day. To be fair, Bobby wasn't unused to putting out fires. It came with the job. From big to small, his position as the manager of HUNTR/X demanded he be capable of handling everything that came his girls' way, no matter what form the mess took.

Today was different though. Today had truly tested the limits of his mental fortitude. Maybe it was everything that had come before it stacking up first… or maybe it was because even now, despite what Rumi had said in that 'this is final and we're not revisiting the topic' tone of hers, it really had been Bobby's fault.

It wasn't up to Rumi to know where Jinu was staying in the Tower, after all. In fact, how would she have even known which apartment Bobby had assigned him in the first place? She didn't know, plain and simple. So when she'd ordered Bobby to put Celine in the apartment across from his, well… that was just good sense given the older woman's current fragile mental state.

At that point, it was on Bobby for not saying something immediately. It was on him for not remembering right off the bat that the apartment was already occupied. As a result, when the realization hit later, everything was a bit more rushed… and mistakes had most definitely been made.

So yeah, it didn't matter whether Rumi blamed him or not. It didn't matter if none of them considered him to be at fault. Bobby would continue to blame himself because this was his fuck up and that meant it was his mess to clean up as well.

… Luckily, things were finally looking up. Signing Jinu to Sunlight Entertainment had been a masterstroke of an idea on Celine's part. It firmly moved the spotlight off of the girls, after all, and completely reframed and recontextualized the entire narrative in a far more positive light than anyone else had been willing to give them.

No longer was it 'mysterious man staying at HUNTR/X Tower for unknown reasons' or 'homeless busker known for playing HUNTR/X covers mysteriously disappears from park'. No, now it was all about Jinu's feel good story and the benevolence of Sunlight Entertainment in giving the handsome young man a shot at something more in life.

Of course, Bobby couldn't let himself forget that Jinu was anything but a young man. Handsome? Yeah sure, but he was also four hundred years old and a demon to boot. Luckily, he was a nice demon… probably the only nice demon in existence just based on what Bobby had seen so far. Rumi didn't count; she was also half-human.

Funnily enough, Jinu was breaking all sorts of records in the industry that he would never be able to claim. Oldest Idol in history for one, heh. Still, even after they'd come upon the solution to all their problems, that had only been the start of Bobby's day.

After that, it was dragging Jinu down to Celine's office to figure out contract stuff. Then, it was working alongside the PR Team on the respective statements as well as Legal about the physical contract. And once they had the physical contract, it was getting it signed and notarized.

As soon as everything was official, as soon as they had dotted all of their i's and crossed all of their t's, the official statement had been put out. The video Bobby and Jinu had taken together was perhaps a little less standard in the industry… but then, HUNTR/X was never really standard to begin with.

It worked. Everything had worked out beautifully, in the end.

Within minutes of people reading the official statement, their tunes were already changing. When the leaks first happened, the majority of their fans had been worried and confused, though largely still supportive of Rumi, Mira, and Zoey regardless.

But there was a vocal minority who had been ready to burn all of their HUNTR/X merch if they weren't given some sort of answer sooner rather than later. And of course, as was so very common with these things, people from the outside were all too happy to fan the flames.

From actual antis or 'anti-fans' to just random internet trolls, it quickly expanded outside of the HUNTR/X fandom into something far bigger… as most things did given how much reach his girls had. They weren't just K-Pop Idols after all. They were THE K-Pop Idols. That came with the bad just the same as the good.

But the statement changed all of that. The confused and worried fans were happy again. Super fans on the verge of rioting were suddenly tripping over themselves trying to make fancams of Jinu despite literally having less than a minute of his face at this point. Well, they also had all of the park performances uploaded without Jinu's permission, of course.

That was… one of the things that had kept Bobby up late today. Those videos, which had hundreds of thousands of views before, had climbed to millions after the overnight leak. Then, when the official statement went out, they all exploded up into the tens of millions within the hour. After all, they were the only 'content' that anyone online had of Sunlight Entertainment's newest Idol.

Bobby had been in meetings with Legal and PR for hours over whether or not to go after the videos. On the one hand, the videos had not necessarily been taken with malicious intent… merely careless intent. They had not been posted to harm Jinu in any way, but on the other hand, that did not mean they couldn't become a problem down the line.

Unfortunately, they were deemed too big to do away with at this point. Back when they were under a million each, maybe the internet would have let their removal slide. But now that they represented the 'pre-idol career' of Sunlight Entertainment's newest talent? They were as much a blessing as they were a curse.

Tch… another failure on Bobby's part, really. If he'd just had the videos taken down back at the start…

Letting out a sigh, Bobby stops right outside of his apartment door. It's been a long, long day. The sun set hours ago. It's just past midnight at this point. But hey, he's survived in the end. And with everything over with, he can finally-

"Bobby?"

Blinking, Bobby turns, hand halfway to the doorknob. Half out of her own door, wearing a nightgown… is Celine.

"Oh, Celine. I hope I didn't wake you. I'm just turning in…"

Shaking her head, Celine opens the door entirely.

"No… I was still awake. I just made some ginseng tea… would you like a cup?"

Bobby blinks rapidly at the offer.

"Oh, uh, I couldn't possibly impose…"

But Celine just smiles.

"No imposition. Please, join me."

She doesn't quite phrase it as an order. It's definitely a request. But she's still technically his boss and Bobby is mostly moving on autopilot right now anyways. And so, instead of entering his own apartment, he finds himself stepping into Celine's and taking a seat at the table, where she pours both of them a cup of tea.

Breathing in the steam rising off of the hot tea, Bobby lets out a sigh before carefully sipping the liquid.

"Oh… this is perfect. Thank you Celine, I didn't know how badly I needed this."

Celine smiles as she takes a sip of her own.

"Of course. Apologies, but how is everything? I've been doing my best to keep track through my phone and laptop but…"

Ah right. Of course Celine would still be up for the same reason he was still awake. No doubt her face had been as glued to screens for the past several hours as his was. Letting out a soft chuckle, Bobby takes a moment to organize his thoughts before delivering his preliminary report.

"Mostly good news. People have completely changed their tune across most social media platforms. Anyone still posting negative shit is pushed to the fringes almost immediately. The response to Jinu's signing has settled somewhere between cautious intrigue and extreme excitement."

Celine nods quietly, letting Bobby continue.

"On the mainstream media side of things, the reputable outlets have started putting out retractions where necessary. The less reputable ones have simply switched to posting positive articles upon seeing where the wind is blowing. And of course, the true rags who only care about shit flinging are doing what they always do and continuing to fling shit."

That brings a smile to Celine's face, one that Bobby mirrors with his own.

"And thanks to your agreement, we'll be able to tear those rags a new asshole in a couple days when we announce the familial connection. Everyone still hating on Jinu and flinging shit at Sunlight Entertainment and HUNTR/X will be dogpiled a hundred times as hard at that point, even by those who weren't already moved to tears by Jinu's original story."

Celine hums and nods, her smile diminishing only slightly. She takes another sip of her tea before setting it down with a sigh.

"And what exactly had you slumped in the hallway like you were when I found you?"

Bobby blinks before letting out a rueful chuckle. Of course, trust Celine to have noticed something like that.

In the end, he explains his regrets over not taking down the fan-made videos of Jinu busking in the park back when they'd had much lower view counts. Celine hums and nods for a moment before shrugging.

"You made the right call in not trying to have those videos taken down back then, Bobby. The fans must be allowed to stretch their wings a fair amount… even more than perhaps we can stretch ours. As for a solution to the problem… just get Jinu in the studio and have him record official covers of every HUNTR/X song that he was filmed playing in the park and post those up over the next few days. "

Oh! That was…

"That's genius, Celine. Obviously we don't want to push Jinu to debut too fast, both for his sake and to avoid overshadowing the girls in the lead up to the Idol Awards… but in this case, with it being only covers of their music, the official posts would only help to generate hype for both HUNTR/X's upcoming performance and Jinu's eventual debut."

Celine hums and smiles softly.

"Indeed. A sophisticated solution to the problem, no? The bootleg versions will remain, but the studio versions will easily overtake them in popularity. People do love quality, after all."

Bobby bobs his head up and down eagerly.

"It's perfect, Celine. Thank you so much for your wisdom, you've managed to completely set my mind at ease, that was one of the last big things weighing on my mind."

Is he laying it on a little bit thicker than he needs to right now? Maybe, but Bobby wants to try and positively reinforce Celine as much as possible given everything that's happened.

"I am… glad to hear that, Bobby. These past few days have been hard on all of us. But they've been especially hard on you."

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Bobby blinks.

"I… er, I'm not sure I agree with that. Yes, it's been difficult for me, I won't deny that, but I can't compare my struggles to literal demon hunters. And you… Celine, you've been holding it together for nearly two and a half decades. I don't hold a candle to your strength."

Letting out a soft laugh, Celine shakes her head.

"I'm not as strong as you think I am, Bobby. Not when I look around me and see all of the damage I've done. The destruction I nearly wrought."

Oh so they were doing this again. Bobby can't help but bristle a little bit on Celine's behalf. Even if the person he's defending her from… is herself.

"Don't talk like that, Celine! Look around you! Do you think any of this would be possible without you? Do you think the girls would be as successful as they were without you? I wouldn't even be here, you know. So if you consider me a net positive, you have to remember that as well!"

Celine looks taken aback by Bobby's aggressive response. She hesitates for a moment before slowly nodding.

"I consider you more than a net positive, Bobby. You're family. And there's no one I would rather have watching over the girls than you."

Bobby lets out a shuddering breath.

"Uh. I really appreciate the compliment Celine, but please don't talk like you aren't also watching over the girls, alright? Because you are. And they need you just as much as they need me."

Celine's smile fades and she stares down into her tea for a moment in silence. Bobby doesn't know what else to say. He doesn't know how to reach her. Fortunately, she speaks up a moment later, breaking the silence again. Unfortunately, what she has to say is…

"Did you know that demon patterns spread from shame, Bobby?"

It sounds like a non-sequitur at first. Bobby doesn't understand what Celine means by the question… and then it hits him. Why it matters. Who she's talking about. His shoulders slump and the whole world suddenly feels a lot heavier.

"… No, I didn't know that."

Tears prick at Celine's eyes as she stares down into her teacup.

"I did that to Rumi. I put those marks all over her body. By forcing her to cover up, by making her hide, by stoking the flames of her shame. Gwi-Ma has no control over her… it was all me."

Fuck. Her hands are shaking badly. The cup of tea is rattling on its saucer. Without even thinking about it Bobby moves out of his chair and is at Celine's side in a single moment. He grabs hold of her hand, steadying it and carefully pulling the teacup from her grasp. Setting it down, he instead intertwines her fingers with his own.

He doesn't mean anything by it, he's just trying to keep her digits from curling into a fist, trying anything he can to make them stop shaking quite so violently. And to be fair… it works. Celine freezes up instead, staring at their hands and then at him with wide eyes.

"You know what else was you, Celine? Rumi's entire life. Every smile that's ever graced her lips. Every laugh that's ever left her mouth. Are you going to tell me you didn't love her?"

"What?! No! I love her with all my heart!"

Even as Celine scowls angrily, Bobby continues on.

"Are you going to say you hurt her, that you made her your own personal punching bag to take out your frustrations and grief on?"

"I-I would never!"

"Many would, Celine."

That answer gives her pause, making Bobby smile softly.

"Many in your position would have grown bitter. Many would have grown spiteful and hateful. Many would have taken all of their pain and agony out on the most obvious and easy target in their lives. But you didn't. Celine, you didn't do that. Were you perfect? Of course not. But nobody is. We all fuck up sometimes. What matters is you never surrendered. You never gave in."

She still seems unconvinced so Bobby tries a different tack.

"Answer me this, Celine. Are you proud of Rumi?"

Caught off guard, Celine sputters.

"O-Of course I am! How could I not be?!"

Hah, got her.

"Then you must accept the good along with the bad. If you are the reason for Rumi's patterns growing, then you are also the reason for all her happiness and success. You are the one who made her who she is… flaws and all."

Giving Celine's hand a squeeze, Bobby smiles softly.

"You're not the monster you think you are Celine. You're merely a woman trying her best."

"… Thank you Bobby. I… thank you."

Bobby's smile grows a bit more. Real progress! Rumi was going to be so happy about this when he told her tomorrow and-

Wait… why are there suddenly lips on his lips? Why is Celine kissing him?

… Why is he kissing her back?!

-x-X-x-

The next morning, Bobby stares up at the ceiling wide eyed, laying in a bed that is not his bed. Slowly, he turns to look at the older woman in bed beside him. Still asleep as well as very, very naked, Celine looks… extremely beautiful and also very peaceful at the moment.

He suspects she won't be nearly as peaceful when she wakes up and realizes what has happened though.

Oh god. Rumi was going to kill him.

-x-X-x-

A/N: Whoops.

I don't know if I'll ever write a proper NSFW Bobby/Celine scene, but for this one at least, it felt appropriate to keep it fade to black.

Feedback is GREATLY appreciated, every comment helps me shape a story like this one!